Running and Getting Older (Day 19)

Run - 8.7km,  52 minutes

So after a week of sluggishness it was back to running and feeling much happier. My last run, when I was sickening, was a struggle but this felt steady.  Good. It means I can keep on keeping on and have not fallen off a fitness cliff.

perhaps II felt better today because I had had a bit of a rest. As I get older recovery is something that takes more time and needs attention and is the reason I never thought of running everyday for Janathon. After a few consecutive days instead of feeling enlivened I would be ground down - and that is not a good thing. I run for satisfaction, to make me more at one with my surroundings, and lift the spirits  but if you are tired it becomes a chore and stops working.

It is important to be realistic about age and manage your expectations. You have to accept that you are not as elastic as you once were (actually I was never that elastic) and the same amount of effort now yields less speed. You to accept and adapt and be a bit smarter in targeting each session. For instance today I wanted to run at least 40 minutes at a steady pace, later in the week I will run  longer but at a lower heart rate, and my third session will be higher paced intervals. I have a plan, whereas before I would have run more but not be at all disciplined.

Until a couple of years ago I just used to try to ignore the fact that I was getting older but it is now nearer the forefront of my mind. I was interested in reading a question posed in the New York Times: is there any scientific evidence to substantiate the claim that older runners (over 45) should limit the amount of high impact exercise, like jogging. The answer did a good job of citing evidence that suggested the reverse (that running and walking tend to help not only general health, whilst not causing arthritis or other damage to the joints). Good. 

But I was interested in the fears that underlie the question and the way fears can stop us doing things even when benefits outweigh the risks by a large margin . Every single activity has some risk: you can trip taking a gentle stroll and seriously hurt yourself, you can do some easy stretches and pull a muscle or strain a tendon, and always there are stories of people being damaged doing something innocuous.  However the question we have to ask is: what are the chances? How many people out of how many come to harm? You cannot be timid just because you can imagine a dangerous scenario, you have to know if it is likely or not. There is always an element of uncertainty but one thing twe are sure of is that one of the most dangerous thing you ca do is ... nothing. Sitting on a sofa will take years off your life.

2011 Streak Day 198/365: Ageing and belated caution

2011 Streak Day 198/365: Run - 3.11 miles, Time - 30min 41sec, Weather - more scudding clouds and periods of rain

This is the first time I have run for three days in a row for ages and I am not sure it is a bright an idea. At the end of today's short outing I began to feel a twinge in my knee and retired to treat it with ice and rest. Luckily it is only a twinge but these days I take no chances.

I have lost all faith in the ability of my body to heal itself.

When I was younger I had an unthinking faith that if I sprained, twisted, strained, bruised or in any other way knocked my body about, it would only take a short time for everything to be put right. All my body needed was a bit of rest and protection and then, as if by magic, it would restore itself to working order.

Silly and unthinking I know but that is the way I thought - and mostly it was true. However now I have learnt one of the sad lessons of ageing: the ability of the body to regenerate slows. The worst things are tendon strains - Oh My! do they take a long time to get better; but they are just the most extreme examples, everything else takes time to heal as well.

The result is that I am now much more cautious. My running mileage is still low and I will only build it up if I feel I can.

Although I have just run three days in a row, the distances were short. It should not have caused any problem. But just to be sure I will be going back to a maximum of every other day for a couple of weeks and then build again.

As I have said many times before the greatest virtue in running is consistency  and that can only happen if you always operate below your breaking point

2011 Streak 113/365: Easy Day

2011 Streak 113/365: Walk - 2 miles, Time - 50 min, Weather - as sunny as a summer's day

Today we have a guest photographer - my niece. 

Those words probably conjure up an image of me indulging a child by giving her my camera and letting her play but that is only half true. I did give her my camera but she is not a child. She is in fact far more qualified to take photos than me as she has a degree in fine art and her final exhibition involved large photographs of tiny structures made of sugar crystal glued together with superglue.

The day is hot and we are in the garden of my sister-in-law and family in Nottingham. I am mostly reading the paper but I am also looking at my niece taking her photos. I have two main thoughts. The first is technical: noticing how she likes to use the manual setting and adjust both aperture and shutter speed - I rarely do that my tendency is to control one or the other and let the camera take care of the exposure. The second is a mixture of envy and regret. She moves about so easily - crouching, bending, and stretching with all the flexibility of youth. How I wish I could be so thoughtless about my body, knowing it would follow my intentions without any conscious effort.

My regret is at the process of ageing and how the body has to be managed - how you have to move more carefully and think about what you are doing. You can no longer take it for granted.

I know, for example, I really have to work at my flexibility. The trouble is there is a difference between knowing and doing. I have never, ever established a long lasting regime. Probably because it really does feel like work. It makes me feel uncomfortable and all the time I am confronted by my own inabilities.

It is just one of those things - if you have a bent for something you tend to enjoy it and keep going. If it is a struggle you are either very strong minded and exert your will, or you backslide. I am a backslider. There will be bursts when I tell myself I ought to do what is good for me but after a time my natural disinclination reasserts itself and the resolution dissolves.

Never mind the physical exercises its character building exercises I need.